This invention is directed to splice-on connectors for optical fiber communications, and to the technique and equipment of fusion splicing in which a connector, with a short length of optical fiber, or pigtail, is fusion spliced to a terminated length of optical fiber.
Fusion splicing, stated simply, is the melting of two optical fibers and joining them, end-to-end, to create a continuous length of glass fiber. The splice-on connector allows greater flexibility for installers, with a lower insertion loss at the point of junction between the existing fiber from the drop cable and the connector. Fusion splicing is typically carried out in a fusion splicer machine, done in the field or on-site. A number of different styles and shapes of fusion spliced connectors are in common use, i.e., SC, ST, FC, LC and others. In each case, a connector holder is employed to keep the body of the connector in a precise position within the associated fusion splicer machine so that the fiber ends will be precisely aligned for the fusion splice. Current practice requires that for each style or type of connector, there is a different machine and a different holder. This makes it expensive and inconvenient for the fiber installer to match the connector to the customer's needs, and typically requires the installer to possess four or more different models of fusion splicer.
The solution to this would be to provide a holder that fits into a number of the different fusion splicer machines, and which will also accommodate a number of the different types or styles of connector bodies. However, this is not a solution that has previously occurred to anyone in the optical fiber industry, and no universal holder concept or product has been proposed.